Jill is taking a break from the blog this week. Here is one of her most popular posts from the past year or so. Excerpt: If your place in the family lineup involved dodging the bullets that flew at your older sibling, learning from his or her sufferings how to best avoid parental disapproval or […]
siblings of special needs
Sibling “Sonshine”: 9-12-11
The Other Children: Two weeks prior to my fortieth birthday, we had our first child, a son. He was and is the love of my life. I could have stopped there but being one of three children, my husband one of five, I pondered the wisdom of a second go around. I began to gather […]
One Mother Wanted To Schmooze: 9-2-11
The Check In: Thirty minutes after I published yesterday’s post, our daughter called; “Hi.” “Hi Sweetie, how are you?” “Good.” “How was your day?” “Good.” “What did you do?” “Well…” And she went on to describe a trip to the recreation center, time on the treadmill, a visit to Puppy Love, a local pet store, […]
She’s Back: 8-29-11
The Empty Red Couch: Irene brought our daughter home. Irene, the hurricane of 2011 who will go down in East Coast history as a late summer mini-series of dramatic proportions, exerted her force on many a family unit. In our case, she imposed significant bonding momentum in our circle of immediate family and neighborhood friends. […]
A Very Social Storm: 8-28-11
We Bailed: The vote was unanimous, five in favor of boarding the 1:30 ferry yesterday bound for Bridgeport, Connecticut, a smooth crossing indeed. After stops for food, including a local farm replete in pigs, blueberries and an amazing flax seed bread, we reached home. Our son made his original wheat berry beef stew, inviting his […]
The Little Mermaid: 5-27-11
Which Mermaid Was That? Out of state friends visited some months after our daughter’s birth. I was in the throes of Disney ecstasy, believe it or not, after having seen the Little Mermaid with our son, who shared my joy. After all, what could be more reggae fun than Sebastian the crab and the hysterically evil Ursula, […]
Protecting The Siblings of Special Needs: 5-5-11
The Others: I don’t know the statistics, but I would bet that most of us special needs parents have other children. I have spent a great deal of time amongst these other children, my other child, and the children of families with whom we have shared Special Olympics or horse back riding programs, special needs […]
Sibling Order Flavors The Coupledom: Oldest, Youngest, Middles and Onlies
Sibling Placement: Another Factor To Consider in The Coupledom: Most of us have siblings. Some of us do not but we marry someone who does. Then there are the ever increasing few who are onlies (NYTimes Style section on only children) and marry onlies. All permutations and combinations of sibling order and mating are fascinating, […]